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M46 Removal Issues

TouzinFish

I like my Volvos old and barely running.
Joined
Mar 12, 2017
Location
Idaho
For some reason, my M46 doesn’t want to come out of the car. It’s separated this far, but won’t budge any further. I have clearance in the trans tunnel and have been trying to keep the transmission level to prevent any binding of the shaft. Am I missing something obvious?

Suggestions much appreciated.

 
I always drop the downpipe to remove the gearbox on a 240. It impedes the rotation maneuver you have to do for the starter motor part of the bell housing to clear.

If it is still stuck then your input shaft may be hanging up on something.
 
It’s stuck up against the firewall towards the engine

Even Volvo says to drop that

I also drop the little oil pan c angle dangle thing too

I got written Volvo instructions at home I can post later
 
If no other advice works, I would recommend liftng the rear of the engine a slight bit to take the weight off of it. It seems like the rear of the motor wants to tilt down and wedge against the input shaft
 
The cars with soggier motor mounts can be a pain / tight by the firewall.

That (more robust otherwise?) ‘82-‘early ‘84 downpipe can make removal more labor intensive.

They rotate ~60* CCW (looking toward the front of the car / from the back of the transmission) from installed angle for the starter bulge in the bellhousing to clear.

Junkyard the DP stays in for the ~250 I’ve pulled, but ‘your car’ it should be removed if the exhaust hardware has much/any chance of being agreeable (more often than not, but they’re all so beat & hacked by now?).
 
Impressive oil pan you got there.

I hope the trans comes out. Usually it's a combination of first tilting down, then twisting/rotating the trans, all while violently shaking and pulling and pushing and twisting.

Lower that trans jack thing down (assume that could just be jacked up high while you're not actively working on it), just low enough so there's freedom to drop, but not so far that it drops and rotates onto your face.
 
Maybe hit the self-serve coin op carwash to get all that mess off there after painting it all with some kerosene in the weed sprayer / agitating it a little until the kero hits metal beforehand?

I’m shameless / the local carwash guy is a nut, but he doesn’t mind me brining the jack, cordless leaf blower, canned air, deoxit & kero/ paint brush and sudsy but gentle soap in my own squirt bottle or even car on the tow dolly provided i don’t hold up the line really make a mess (change my oil into the drain or do really sketchy stuff like the contractors try to get away with?).

They have a grease trap and sans lift I have a particular hatred of wrenching on really filthy cars like that?

Outdoor lift, kero and a steamer is probably most gentle / don’t want to be injecting higher pressure water or aggressive basic corrosive soaps (that often contain lye as the active ingredient) into bearings and places where it ought not to go, but outdoor lift with a drain/grease trap is a disappearing thing with legal liabilities etc, as is just even the self-serve coin op that isn’t too busy with a grease trap, sufficiently hot water & an owner that’s pretty chill?

Difficult enough just to find a wash that has much pressure and is heated anymore as-is?
And not too busy?
I’m fortunate that way / there’s one in the shade that’s pretty sleepy 1-2mi away with a grease trap still grandfathered in on all things zoning / grease trap environmental (for now?)?

It’s really miserable & the setup labor & time sucks to get the car over there & in the air, but I prefer to dolly or drive over there last thing of the night with my trunk load of stuff and take a shower that night than suffer for multiple days on a greazy gross car?

vclassics.com/archive/cleaning.htm

I’m not at Cameron’s level for customers (usually the customer is me in the short term?) or nicer cars, but similar outlook and also a dyed in wool beater 140 owner?

I have memories of driving by repair shops 30 years ago that used to have outdoor lifts and streamers back when many cars still had felt seals / drip-slower-downers and seeing some poor sod / kid straining off the underside with hopefully an appropriate cap and poncho…
…yuck, but if it’s your car, also usually can do an ok job (if you’re careful) at the carwash and leave the worst of thst that ick there (& in your own shower drain depending how dirty you get?) all @ once?
 
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The cars with soggier motor mounts can be a pain / tight by the firewall.

That (more robust otherwise?) ‘82-‘early ‘84 downpipe can make removal more labor intensive.

They rotate ~60* CCW (looking toward the front of the car / from the back of the transmission) from installed angle for the starter bulge in the bellhousing to clear.

Junkyard the DP stays in for the ~250 I’ve pulled, but ‘your car’ it should be removed if the exhaust hardware has much/any chance of being agreeable (more often than not, but they’re all so beat & hacked by now?).
one time at the junkyard I got frustrated because it wasn't coming out. I kicked the drivers door shut and the m46 just flopped out and landed on the seat cushion I was using to protect fall damage
 
one time at the junkyard I got frustrated because it wasn't coming out. I kicked the drivers door shut and the m46 just flopped out and landed on the seat cushion I was using to protect fall damage
one time I was pulling an m47 for 122power
I used a cherry picker next to the 240 and set the whole car on its side
 
One-of-a-kind I know what I got gobbless
Looks like the car came w/a bundle ‘o goods & the ‘tru-coat?’

I just kind of leg press M46s / most transmission lifts and jacks don’t really tilt sufficiently for them (especially w/oil sogged mounts), but do dislike being under cars / car on its side sounds pretty good, but wrestling the lift crane to the back of a large yard if it’s a yard with the large railroad ballast rock (the name of which is escaping me / having a premature senile moment?)) can also be maybe more trouble than it’s worth.

SoCal Chula Vista and parts of AZ desert they just set the cars down on the dry desert dirt / no rock similar to the airplane graveyard near Tucson, AZ?

That was a revelation for those of us used to upper temperate and boreal rainforest and Missoula flood ‘erratics’ and rocks carved out at the end of the last ice age w/9 months of grim rain and sleet?
Watch out for the snakes, scorpions and spiders in the former case!

Grateful not pull all that many anymore, but did have it down to <20-30mins (if the car was in the air / a parts car already).

Junk back seats and the like do come in handy?

Good luck removing (whatever remains of?) the pilot bearing?
Hopefully the input shaft & anything proximate to it survives this?

The carwash guy is a sort of ‘well meaning affable racist’ (if you will? / there is such a thing?) and total cook/crank / Oregonian / good entertainment, but works for me / seems unconcerned w/30+ years of grease & filth being washed off of old cars and me bringing my own soap and supplies? :lol:
 
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Everyone here is the best, thanks a bunch

Following a variety of advice options in here, I got it out.

1. I had no idea the transmission needed to twist a bit. That made significant progress.
2. The twisting maneuver got blocked by the downpipe. Removing that also helped significantly.
3. Adding a bit of a steeper angle helped even more.
4. Violent shaking broke it free.
 
Everyone here is the best, thanks a bunch

Following a variety of advice options in here, I got it out.

1. I had no idea the transmission needed to twist a bit. That made significant progress.
2. The twisting maneuver got blocked by the downpipe. Removing that also helped significantly.
3. Adding a bit of a steeper angle helped even more.
4. Violent shaking broke it free.
Violent shaking is a bad idea. You can definitely damage the clutch disc doing that. I actually had to pull the engine/trans combo to one side using a come along on a 240 with M46. I don't remember where I hooked up to. It has been awhile. It's just another cluster fuck design from Volvo. Poorly thought out. Very difficult to service.
 
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